Stephen Blackpool in Charles Dickens Hard Times :: Hard Times Essays

The book Hard Times is a book written by Charles Dickens a man that Dickens described as a man with great integrity, is introduced in this book his name is Stephen Blackpool. Stephen Blackpool lives in the town of Coketown Dickens describes this town: â€Å"In the innermost fortification of that ugly citadel where nature was as strongly bricked out as killing airs and gases were bricked in†. I think most people would agree that this is not a nice place to live in and it does not bring a nice town were the glissading sun rays were shining over every house, also the grass nourished and bright green as if it was just cut. No this is not the picture that comes to mind what this town looks like is a dark and damp place to live in were nobody would love to live only tramps living on the sidewalk and the air thick and poisons and pitch black as coal this was not a good place to live in not a place Dickens liked. Dickens hates the industrial revolution as it created a bad habitat also his father used to work in a factory which he died because of toxic fumes so you can tell that Dickens does not like this town. Stephen Blackpool is not a young man he is about in his forties and gray hair, he was not a clever person they would not call him smart he even had problems with speaking. Dickens starts of describing Stephen Blackpool by saying â€Å" It is said that every life has it’s roses and thorns there seemed however to have been a misadventure or mistake in Stephens case whereby somebody else has been possessed of his roses, and he had become possessed of the same somebody else’s thorns in addition to his. This clearly states that Stephen Blackpool does not have good luck on his side he has twice as much thorns, thorns being the mistakes in life and he has no roses, roses being the correct decisions in life. So what Dickens is saying what ever this man does it will be the wrong decision to make. Stephen could not be described as a clever person as he is not and intelligent man he barley can make a speech but Dickens calls him a man of perfect integrity, what I want to do here is tell you the definition of integrity what integrity means is truth or honesty so is what Dickens is calling Stephen is he is a man with perfect truth or honesty in his heart . Stephen has a friend called Rachel she is what keeps him together